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Rocky Mountain Power continues to push the ALEC and Koch brothers agenda with a solar tax that has been talked about for several months now.

The fee, proposed by RMP, is aimed either at the 2000 or so customers who are trying to either shrink their power bill, or even add to the power grid, or it is aimed at killing Americas fastest growing method of generating power. Guess what the PR people say? “It’s not a tax on solar. It’s not a disincentive,” said Bramble, ALEC flack and Business As Usual defender, sorry, R-Provo.Read the rest of this entry »

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I get tired of moaning and groaning about our broken political system, so here’s something I found that gives me hope for America.

Germany is making us look bad, because some thirty years after we passed up the chance to lead the world in solar energy, that country is astounding the world with what it’s been able to do with solar in a very short time.

This looks like a chance for America to lead the way yet, with – job creating – American made technology that the world would love to have. I realize this is a promotional video which is most likely not pointing to many downsides of their product, but can’t we just try it? It seems much simpler then going to the moon, and we’re all tired of the oil spills; most of which we never even hear about, because the stories are mostly banned from the media.

Check it out. There are lots of other videos on the subject, including a “TED” talk by the inventor, which I haven’t had time to watch yet.

Paul Krugman reflects on the meltdown of the putative policy arguments in favor of austerity, and asks whether it will matter to those in power.

Does a continuing depression actually serve the interests of the wealthy? That’s doubtful, since a booming economy is generally good for almost everyone. What is true, however, is that the years since we turned to austerity have been dismal for workers but not at all bad for the wealthy, who have benefited from surging profits and stock prices even as long-term unemployment festers. The 1 percent may not actually want a weak economy, but they’re doing well enough to indulge their prejudices.

And this makes one wonder how much difference the intellectual collapse of the austerian position will actually make. To the extent that we have policy of the 1 percent, by the 1 percent, for the 1 percent, won’t we just see new justifications for the same old policies?

I hope not; I’d like to believe that ideas and evidence matter, at least a bit. Otherwise, what am I doing with my life? But I guess we’ll see just how much cynicism is justified.

Meanwhile, last night the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill aimed at exempting rich people who fly a lot from the consequences of the sequester. The House is expected to follow suit today.

[I]t sets a precedent that sequestration’s problems — particularly those that impact the wealthy — can be fixed piecemeal by shimmying money around, instead of by raising revenue to restore finances to important government programs.

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Seeing that Mitt Romney wants a plane that can have open windows, then I know of a plane Mitt Romney can use.

It even has a sunroof

Now I do get that this was probably a poor joke on Mitt’s account, but his humor is always stale. There is one thing that does annoy me though and that is that a lot of Americans do not understand why there is a decompression. In fact when I do talk about it, most people I say it too are clueless. So since I said I was an expert on aviation, then why not? The reason there is a suction when a plane decompresses is because the engines feed air to the cabin for the crew and passengers to breathe. The reason we need that stems from the jet’s need to be at a higher altitude. When it comes to flying, there are four forces that act on the plane. Two of those is thrust and drag. The lower you are in altitude, the more drag you will get due to the density of the air around you. That means a jet will go slower and burn more fuel. So it goes at a higher altitude where it can go faster and burn less fuel. However the downside to that is the lack of available air. When you reach a certain altitude, then there is not enough air to supply oxygen to the brain and you get hypoxia. That will kill you if you have it for too long. This is why climbing Mt Everest is so deadly. So they pressurize the cabin to keep the occupants alive. What annoys me is that almost nobody I know knows this. So I would not be surprised if Mitt Romney was clueless as well. Suction isn’t the only hazard that decompression can do to you. That picture I showed is one example and almost everyone on that plane lived. The real danger with windows allowed to be open is the lack of oxygen you will face.